The West Parks People, Not Cars

In a city where innovating is as natural as breathing, it’s no surprise a group of San Francisco designers looked at a parking spot seven years ago and thought, “leafy urban oasis!”

Sunset

John Bela of Rebar, the firm behind the parklet craze. (Photograph by Thomas J. Story)

In a city where innovating is as natural as breathing, it’s no surprise a group of San Francisco designers looked at a parking spot seven years ago and thought, “leafy urban oasis!”

From that kernel from design firm Rebar, parklets, the parking-spots-turned-pop-up-parks, were born. SF quickly latched onto the idea and created Pavement to Parks, the city-funded program that sponsored the first official parklet (above).

The trend has since spread West-wide, with mini parks sprouting up as unique the neighborhoods they live in, like Seattle’s Sunset Substation Park, which will turn a defunct electrical station into a green space with a solar-powered canopy.

In the go-West department, we’ve even inspired East Coast cities like Boston and Chicago to give them a shot. A few of our favorites:

Parklet outside Lola's Mexican Cuisine in Long Beach, one of three along E. Fourth Street. Of course, it's got a sustainable-wood deck and low-water plants for greenery. (Photograph by Andrea Gómez Romero)